Lanterns in MY Tamriel?
Morrowind had an (admittedly absurd) amount of "lighting" objects: candles, lanterns, paper lanterns, bug lanterns, the omnipresent torch, etc. It may not sound like much of a big deal to the average person, but to me, when I first realized that I could carry around candles in my hand in Morrowind and even leave them around wherever I pleased, it was really impressive at the time. A shame that this colorful and exotic assortment of light sources in Oblivion was reduced to the lowly torch, which can only be dropped unlit anyway. Lanterns were a very nice addition in Morrowind for giving your house just the right touch of cozy lighting, or even for illuminating an entire dungeon if you were so inclined.

Why lanterns?
Honestly, if I wanted to name a single thing I missed most in Oblivion, it would have to be all of the little trinkets and details that Morrowind had. You tend to overlook things like lanterns when weighing the content of a game, but they also certainly contributed heavily to the customization and atmosphere of the game. Perhaps to further increase their value in Skyrim, they could even be made waterproof (if only for a short time), making underwater exploration less frustrating for characters who don't wish to rely on magic.

NPCs had their use for lanterns, as well. Guards could patrol the streets with impunity during the rainy weather - something torches cannot do. Instead of running around the city streets during a thunderstorm in total darkness like a moron, they could simply use a lantern! It looks far more respectable, anyway. Why carry around that dangerous oil-soaked rag with you when making the rounds in the castle's halls of rich mahogany? Just use a lantern!

Why NOT lanterns?
The developers presumably removed them after Morrowind assuming that nobody cared about them. And with the first screenshots of Skyrim, things seemed dim (pun not intended). Candles and boar-tusk-chandeliers seemed to be the main sources of illumination in this low-tech fantasy world.

But wait! There was hope when the very first http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/9/2011/04/khajiittemple02.jpg surfaced with this past week's assortment of Skyrim previews. Lanterns and candlesticks galore! And these were not your average homely candlesticks - nay, never before have I seen candlesticks with such beautiful, long, shapely contours - the perfect fit to be gripped within my character's manly hands! Not for a life of solitude bolted on a table for all of eternity. :toughninja:

I for one would be truly appreciative if Bethesda brought back more portable light sources beyond the lowly torch. What do you think? As Outlander once said:



http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1163659-light-sources/

Candles are spreadsheety? What?

I don't see any reason why I wouldn't want them.

Of course! Travel lantern glory!

I wanttttttttttt.

I miss being able to place lit candles and lights anywhere I please. Also a robed character + lantern = awesome.

Just imagine being able to walk through misty dungeons or foggy crags and valleys with a bleak lantern. mmmmmmmm

Yes
Exploring Vassir-Didinat (one of the few really dark places in MW) with a lantern was very creepy
I don't expect to be fully able to interect with the scenery but more uses for mundane objects at least some of the time would be a plus

edit: just who was it in MW who went aroundchanging the torchesin the tombs anyway.

Dido about the trinkets and details. I hope we will be able to enchant our own candels and other inanimate objects, lock doors etc.

Yes please, when I saw that khajiit picture it got my hopes up for lanterns too!

Common lanterns and holdable candles!! I must have!

I remember receiving an enchanted Blazing Holy Candle of Fireballs in Daggerfall once. With enchanting being fleshed out as a full skill, I'm certainly hoping there will be more applications for it!

well i dont really care about them but good to see i have the option to use a lantern should i wish to put on a cloak grad a knife and a lantern and play tonberry on my argonian

Where's a "not that I care" option?

Lol. My thoughts exactly. Gotta get a lantern out.

Alright, I'll start up Microsoft excel.

I'm confused. Oblivion does have lanterns. Granted, i am playing on PC and thus using mods, so maybe it's a mod that is adding them. But, i thought for sure the vanilla version had lanterns.

Using a candle in a very dark Dwemer ruin would be awesome.

It does, but they're all statics/activators in the world and can't be picked up. Morrowind's lanterns were basically items with lights attached to them, so they could be used either the way torches are in Oblivion or simply dropped in the game world to light up interiors. Sorry if the wording in the OP wasn't entirely clear.

There actually is an Oblivion mod that adds portable lanterns, although I forget the name right now. Presumably contains the word "lanterns" in it.

Thanks for clarifying that for me. I thought my memory was leaving me.

I loved the range of lighting in Morrowind, and really missed it in Oblivion - one of the first mods I downloaded was one with portable light-sources so that I could light up my player homes - some of which were really dark and dingy (yes Benirus Manor or whatever you were called, the one in Anvil, I am talking about you!!)

Hopefully there are as many options as Morrowind. I loved going around as a mage in exquisite robes with the three-pronged silver candles.

As long as you cant place lanterns in your inventory.
I like the lighting they do in google sketchup certain items that make lighting that illuminate when dark

I want my bug lamp!

Be a cool version of torches. Maybe less of an area effect of lighting but a farther reach- invaluable when exploring.

This, though I like carrying lanterns more with my Argonian mage, whilst wearing fine robes with a pair of Orcish pauldrons. Swaggg

why not? It would be cool if you could light candles separately in your house to light up a room or something. I don't know why you would use lanterns instead of torches, I like torches better then lanterns. It feels cooler for me to be holding a torch then a lantern.

hopefully we can get some blue and red ones like in morrowind.